JAC Online

Discovering the Origin of the Holiness Table
by Steve Bussey

SEARCHING FOR THE ORIGIN OF THE HOLINESS TABLE

I am part of a group called the SAHPA (Salvation Army Historic and Philatelic Association). One of the participants, Erik Johannson, was asking about the origins of the Holiness Table. Apparently in Scandinavian Corps, they have never had these - utilizing the Mercy Seat for both salvation and holiness.

To date, I have not been able to find a satisfactory response to the source of where this came from and why it was introduced. For many, it seems to only be a piece of furniture on which we place flowers and offering plates with a red cloth which says. "Holiness Unto the Lord."

When I was young, I would witness people who would go and kneel at the Holiness Table - which symbolized that they were seeking holiness of heart. To be honest, it looked more like they wanted to pray independently...

Probably the best treatment to date has been Nigel Bovey's chapter on "The Holiness Table" in his brilliant, must-read book, The Mercy Seat Revisited (2010). In it, he states,

"It is a well-documented fact that the Army mercy seat started out as the revivalist's anxious seat, on which the seeker sat, rather than at which the seeker knelt. What is far less clear is the origin of the table as the dispensary for holiness." (p.85)

Robert Sandall's The History of The Salvation Army Vol.2 (1950) states that the Holiness Table as a distinct place to encounter holiness was part of the ministry of The Salvation Army,

"Another point sometimes lost sight of is that there was from the first a vital distinction between a 'penitent-form' and a 'holiness table.' The configuration of modern buildings is often such that it is difficult to place a table at the front as it was done in holiness meetings of earlier days, and the penitent-form has to do duty for both. But for those seeking the higher life it is figuratively an 'altar' or 'mercy seat' and not a 'penitent form' (p.135).

General John Larsson's Spiritual Breakthrough (1983) (p.54) references a report from the Christian Mission Magazine (August, 1878) when the Christian Mission truly became The Salvation Army and they had "undoubtedly the most wonderful meeting ever held in the history of the Mission"

"Round the table in the great central square Satan was fought and conquered, as it were, visibly by scores of persons whose names and numbers no one attempted to take. Evangelists came there burdened with the consciousness of past failings and unfaithfulness, and were so filled with the power of God that they literally danced for joy. Brethren and sisters who had hesitated  as to yielding themselves to go forth anywhere to preach Jesus, came and were set free from every doubt and fear,, and numbers whose peculiar besetments and difficulties God alone can read, came and washed and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."

That scene of wrestling prayer and triumphant faith, no one who saw it can ever forget. We saw one collier labouring with his fists upon the floor and in the air, just as he was accustomed to struggle with the rocks in his daily toil, until at length he gained the diamond he was seeking - perfect deliverance from the carnal mind - and rose up shouting and lay there for some time as if dead, overwhelmed with the Power from on high. When the gladness of all God's mighty deliverance burst upon some, they laughed as well as cried for joy, and some of the younger evangelists might have been seen, like lads at play, locked in one another's arms and rolling each other over on the floor.

Quite a wild description! So from the inception of The Salvation Army, the Holiness Table has played a central role in our identity. The two sides of full salvation are blood (justification) and fire (sanctification). While the experiences can happen in the same setting, they are two sides of the spiritual blessing.

I have been a very strong advocate of Salvationists rediscovering the heritage of New Measures Revivalism - which has its roots in Wesleyan Methodism, but emerges as a more distinct category of transatlantic revivalism in the 19th century. While the use of the 'Anxious Seat' emerged out of frontier revivalism and was codified by Charles Finney, which is well documented in Salvation Army history, the origin of the Holiness Table is more obscure, as Bovey has noted.

I was reflecting on Bovey's reference (pp.86 & 277) to the 1925 O&R for Officers used the term "Holiness Altar" rather than "Holiness Table":

"The penitent-form or mercy seat (and in Holiness Meetings the holiness altar) occupies an important place in Salvation Army warfare...

2. 'Seekers' include all who come to the penitent-form or holiness altar.

(a.) Salvation seekers are those seeking Salvation; they are also known as penitents. Backsliders needing restoration are dealt with as Salvation seekers.

(b.) Holiness seekers are those seeking Holiness.

In the past, I have searched for historical references to a Holiness Table, but Bovey caused me to realize that just as the Salvationist 'Mercy Seat' was originally called an 'Anxious Seat', so too is it possible that the origin source of the 'Holiness Table,' might in fact be the 'Holiness Altar'!

A new search all of a sudden revealed the answer! The origin of the Holiness Table is rooted in New Measures Revivalism! In particular, the source of this inspiration is Phoebe Palmer - the great holiness theologian, revivalist, urban mission pioneer - and the woman who truly inspired Catherine Booth to defend the rights of women to preach the gospel!

Young Sung Kim highlights the unquestionable connection between Phoebe Palmer and The Salvation Army in his article, Brengle and Palmer:

"I believe that Brengle’s theological emphasis of Christ as the divine altar in his writings is clearly related to the linage of Palmer’s distinctive teaching on holiness, known as Palmer’s “Altar theology.” In my reading, the influence of Palmer’s “Altar theology” echoes in many places in Brengle’s books.

It is not surprising to find some books that Palmer wrote in Brengle’s personal library. Especially, we can see Palmer’s two books, Entire Sanctification to God and Faith and Its Effects or Fragments From My Portfolio on his book shelf. These books are considered as two of the major writings for understanding Palmer’s distinctive teaching of “Altar theology.” It is also thrilling to find Brengle’s own signature on both books and his notes on the margins in many pages. In fact, The Salvation Army reprinted Palmer’s Entire Sanctification to God and used it as 'a primer for the teaching of entire sanctification within the movement.'”

David Rightmire even credits the Booth's Holiness experience to the influence of the Palmers in his book, Sanctified Sanity (2003):

"William and Catherine's sanctification experiences date back to 1861, two years after their first known contact with Phoebe Palmer. Their correspondence to one another from this period reflects a direct dependence on Palmer's holiness thought, especially her 'altar theology.'" (p.151)

PHOEBE PALMER'S HOLINESS ALTAR THEOLOGY

Randall Balmer's "Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism" (2001) references how Palmer "issued 'holiness altar invitations" during her revival campaigns and her famed Tuesday Morning Holiness Meetings. Here's the full reference:

"Phoebe Palmer's works and writings were more important in both the shaping and the propagation of holiness doctrines in the nineteenth century. She set forth what she called an 'altar theology,' derived from the Old Testament practices of sacrifice. Palmer urged people who wanted to be sanctified, which she regarded as 'full salvation,' to lay their desire for holiness on the 'altar' and trust God to deliver entire sanctification. She issued 'holiness altar invitations' and invited people who had received the experience of entire sanctification to testify to it immediately. Palmer's theology was adopted by such holiness groups as the Salvation Army, the Free Methodists, and the Church of the Nazarene." (p.436)

Charles Edwin Jones article in the Wesleyan Theological Journal (31:2, Fall, 1996) on The Inverted Shadow of Phoebe Palmer identifies how Palmer is a forgotten influence on the Holiness Movement, but how her teaching and practices most certainly shaped the modern holiness movement.

The altar sanctifies the gift, the consecration formula based on it, was to be the centerpiece of the Holiness quest for entire sanctification. Its utilization in practically every altar service over many decades caused the core of Mrs. Palmer’s teachings to become the cornerstone of widely-held belief. Unlike the defeat of spiritual assurance implied by the Half-Way Covenant of New England Puritanism, the collage of proof texts, spiritual songs, and physical accouterments which made up this symbol of personal consecration pointed the seeker after entire sanctification to the Altar of Sacrifice, the anteroom to assurance in the higher Christian life.

Nowhere in the Holiness mind is Mrs. Palmer’s impact more apparent than in its visualization of salvation. The centrality of the altar as physical object and as spiritual symbol could hardly have been lost on the vast majority of American Methodist hearers. Stress on the altar of the heart sprang quite naturally from the material culture of the revivalistic spirituality in which they, like she, had been nurtured. The practice of kneeling for prayer and for communion, an inheritance from Anglicanism, was an integral part of Methodist worship. Relation of religious experiences was expected in every class meeting and every prayer meeting, and use of biblical metaphors, such as the Altar of Sacrifice and the Mercy Seat, were the stock in trade of common religious discourse. Phoebe Palmer required no illustrator.

Presentation of Mrs. Palmer’s theology of self-sacrifice in such a context was destined to make the altar - represented by the altar rail rather than the communion table - the focal point of Holiness worship, causing proponents of her Altar Covenant to regard as essential this accouterment of the nineteenth-century Methodist chapel both as consecrated object and as sacred symbol. The altar rail was to be for the church at prayer the place where the physical and spiritual merged. Placed directly in front of the pulpit, the altar was the most revered article of furniture in tabernacle, chapel, and mission hall. Over many decades it was to stand both as a physical and symbolic representation of the Wesleyan way of salvation. The scores of thousands who struggled during these years to surrender all and to die to self and sin while kneeling before it gave unconscious witness to the immensity of the shadow cast by this remarkable woman."

Charles Edward Wright, in his book, The Beauty of Holiness: Phoebe Palmer as Theologian, Revivalist, Feminist and Humanitarian (1986)  explains the source of Phoebe Palmer's Altar Theology:

"Mrs. Palmer developed her three-step plan for achieving entire sanctification in conjunction with her 'altar theology.' As we have already seen, she was seeking for some scriptural basis for applying 2 Corinthians 6:17, 'I will receive you,' to herself. She found this assurance by arguing from a catena of passages containing sacrificial imagery. In Romans 12:1-2 she read that Christians are commanded to offer themselves to God, in Matthew 23:19 that the altar sanctifies the gift, in Exodus 29:37 that whatever touches the altar is holy, and in Hebrews 13:10 that Christians have an altar which is more sacred than the one in the tabernacle. Following Adam Clarke, she believes that this greater altar is Christ himself. From these passages Mrs. Palmer deduced that Christians who entirely consecrate themselves to Christ are presenting their bodies as living sacrifices. Christ himself is the altar on which the offering is made so long as believers rest themselves entirely on him, their all is on the altar. Because whatever touches the altar is holy, the believers themselves are holy. Thus entire consecration guarantees entire sanctification."

Phoebe Palmer's view on sanctification was considered the 'shorter way' to holiness, with three simple steps:

1. Entire consecration

2. Faith

3. Testimony

The Salvationist Holiness scholar, Young Sung Kim, in his article Brengle and Palmer writes that, " As a metaphor and theological method, the “Altar theology” is a cornerstone of Palmer’s holiness theology. First, it shows the pragmatic implication of Palmer’s holiness theology by synthesizing the ethos of 19th century American revivalism which emphasizes the instantaneousness and immediacy of the work of the Holy Spirit during the experience of sanctification. Second, it shows Palmer’s Christocentric attention in her principle of interpretation of the Bible. Arguably, as a key concept of Palmer’s “Altar theology,” the “shorter way”  demonstrates the originality and creativity of Palmer’s holiness theology in modifying and popularizing John Wesley’s teaching of entire sanctification."

Some Methodists did not agree with Palmer's theology. In fact some severely criticized her in 1851 before she set sail for England. In particular was a Methodist named Hiram Mattison. He found her views too extreme. It is important to note that the Palmers were banned from the same Methodist gatherings that the Booths were being banned from in the 1850s. This was largely for their support of the 'new measures' of revivalism.

White explains how Palmer's shorter view of Holiness drew from sources other than John Wesley (but who were Wesleyan), which modified her view. All of these sources shaped the Booths:

1. From John Fletcher, she identified entire sanctification with the baptism of the Holy Spirit (a key early Salvationist distinctive)

2. From Adam Clarke, she linked holiness with power (again, also referenced by Salvationists)
3. From Adam Clarke, she emphasized instantaneous elements of sanctification, to the exclusion of the gradual

4. From Adam Clarke, she taught that sanctification is not the goal, but rather the beginning of the Christian life

5. Through her Biblical 'altar theology' she reduced the attainment of sanctification to three stages.

6. The Bible alone gives assurance of entire sanctification (White, pp.125f.)

This 'altar' was the altar of holiness. The song, "Is Your All on the Altar of Sacrifice Laid"" written by Elisha Hoffman in 1873 summarizes Palmer's teaching:

1. You have longed for sweet peace,

And for faith to increase,

And have earnestly, fervently prayed;

But you cannot have rest,

Or be perfectly blest,

Until all on the altar is laid.

Refrain:
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the Spirit control?

You can only be blest,

And have peace and sweet rest,

As you yield Him your body and soul.

2. Would you walk with the Lord,

In the light of His word,

And have peace and contentment alway?

You must do His sweet will,

To be free from all ill,

On the altar your all you must lay.

3. Oh, we never can know

What the Lord will bestow

Of the blessings for which we have prayed,

Till our body and soul

He doth fully control,

And our all on the altar is laid.

4. Who can tell all the love

He will send from above,

And how happy our hearts will be made;

Of the fellowship sweet

We shall share at His feet,

When our all on the altar is laid.

PHOEBE PALMER'S HOLINESS ALTAR METHODOLOGY

Out of this Holiness Altar Theology came a very clear Holiness Altar Methodology that she developed. It seems pretty clear that the Booths adapted some, if not all, of the Palmer's Holiness Altar Methodology. This methodology was incorporated by the Church of the Nazarene and the Free Methodists, so it would not be surprising to hear that the Palmers were the source of this new innovation.

Charles Edward White explains the methodology of the Palmer's Revival Meetings:

"Sometimes Mrs. Palmer spoke for twenty minutes and sometimes for an hour. On the first night of a series of meetings her messages would usually be that Pentecost is a model revival and that it may be duplicated whenever believers seek the full baptism of the Holy Ghost. She would then go on to say that if believers were baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, the world would then be convicted. Most Christians are not so baptized only because they have not sought the blessing through entire consecration, faith, and testimony. Next Phoebe Palmer would challenge all who resolved to seek the baptism to rise, indicating their determination to the Lord. Finally, she invariably concluded this section of the meeting by inviting people forward to the altar, where they could pray for the promised blessing.

The purpose of the altar service was 'gathering the fruit' that had ripened during the preaching. It was a time for people to solidify their commitments they had made by openly presenting themselves in front of the congregation. This altar service was so important that the Palmers more than once changed the interior architecture of a church to provide space for it. Both the Palmers, along with other leaders in the church, took an active part in praying with seekers, giving counsel, and listening to testimony. At times Mrs. Palmer went into the congregation seated in the nave or even up in the galleries to persuade people to come to the altar. 

While the focus of the altar service was on the individual seeker, at times the whole group would be asked to give its attention to one person who was having a particularly hard time 'praying through.' All would then join in beseeching the Lord, aiding the sister or brother to obtain the sought-for blessing. At other times those at the altar would be called to hear the testimony of one whose petition had been granted. Then those who had already received sanctification could rejoice with the newly blessed believer, and those who had not yet obtained holiness could be encouraged on their quest. Phoebe Palmer often reported that the power of the Holy Spirit was evident at such times, and once recorded that people were slain in the Spirit: 'We saw it possible to be baptized with a baptism beyond what we were able to physically bear.' She did not, however, encourage emotionalism. Usually her meetings were free from extravagancies, and disorderly and fanatical demonstrations...

As most of the seekers began to find what they sought, the focus of the meeting would shift from prayer to testimony. The Palmers would question the people at the altar rail, asking them to explain what the Lord had done for them. This practice provided the opportunity for the seekers to give the testimony that was so important to being sanctified. Then, as the people were leaving the altar, they would give their names to the recording secretaries." (p.173f.)

The 'architecture changes' which were made to churches were, without question, the same churches in England that William and Catherine Booth were preaching in during the late 1850s and early 1860s! Sometimes the Booths were literally the next itinerant evangelists to follow the Palmers, therefore it is no wonder that their theology, methodology and architecture would influence one another!

Charles Edwin Jones goes into further detail - linking the methodology of an "Altar Covenant":

“This construct — the so-called Altar Covenant — linked Scripture, sacred song, and physical setting into a representation of the way to full redemption. Worked out in Phoebe and Walter Palmer’s own ministry, this unarticulated metaphor, used by both separatist Holiness folk and Methodist loyalists with whom they shared joyful fraternity, proved amenable to all situations face by those striving to assist seekers after entire sanctification. Product of the New York Tuesday Meeting, the Altar Covenant was the source of the most advice given by the saints in the after meeting of every Holiness service in which there were seekers at the rail. 

The altar sanctifies the gift, the consecration formula based on it, was to be the centerpiece of the Holiness quest for entire sanctification. Its utilization in practically every altar service over many decades caused the core of Mrs. Palmer’s teachings to become in fact a cornerstone of widely-held belief. Unlike the defeat of spiritual assurance implied by the Half-Way Covenant of New England Puritanism, the collage of proof texts, spiritual songs, and physical accouterments which made up this symbol of personal consecration pointed the seeker after entire sanctification to the altar of sacrifice, the anteroom to assurance in the higher Christian life.

Nowhere in the Holiness mind is Mrs. Palmer’s impact more apparent than in its visualization of salvation. The centrality of the altar as physical object and as spiritual symbol could hardly have been lost on the vast majority of American Methodist hearers. Stress on the altar of the heart sprang quite naturally from the material culture of the revivalistic spirituality in which they, like she, had been nurtured. The practice of kneeling for prayer and for communion, an inheritance from Anglicanism, was an integral part of Methodist worship. Relation of religious experiences was expected in every class meeting and every prayer meeting, and use of biblical metaphors, such as the Altar of Sacrifice and the Mercy Seat, were the stock in trade of common religious discourse. Phoebe Palmer required no illustrator.

Presentation of the new theology of self-sacrifice in such a context was destined to make the altar — represented by the altar rail rather than the communion table — the focal point of Holiness worship, causing proponents of her Altar Covenant to regard as essential this accouterment of the 19th century Methodist chapel both as consecrated object and as a sacred symbol. It was to be for the church at prayer the place where the physical and spiritual merged. Placed directly in front of the pulpit, the altar was the most revered article of furniture in tabernacle, chapel, and mission hall. Over the many decades it was to stand both as a physical and symbolic representation of the Wesleyan way of salvation. The scores of thousands who, during these years, struggled to surrender all and to die to self and sin while kneeling before it, gave unconscious witness to the immensity of the shadow cast by this remarkable woman.

The genius of Mrs. Palmer’s message and methodology was that it spoke to the dilemma faced by many in the second and third generations who believed themselves incapable of realizing in the same manner as their parents the witness of the Holy Spirit to having been made in perfect love." (Jones, 1997, p.205f.)

PALMER'S HOLINESS ALTAR & THE SALVATIONIST HOLINESS TABLE - REFLECTIONS ON REDISCOVERING ITS' THEOLOGY & METHODOLOGY

So what does knowledge of the origin of the Holiness Table mean for us today? A rediscovery of the roots of the Holiness Table really does challenge us today. What is the value we place on holiness? Do we believe it possible to lay our all on the altar?

SASB 511 was written in 1869 by Mary Dogworthy James, a friend of Phoebe Palmer. These words still ring true today:

My body, soul and spirit,

  Jesus, I give to thee,

A consecrated offering,

   Thine evermore to be.

My all is on the altar,

  I'm waiting for the fire,

Waiting, waiting, waiting,

   I'm waiting for the fire.

O Jesus, mighty Savior,

   I trust in thy great name;

I look for thy salvation,

   Thy promise now I claim.

O let the fire, descending

   Just now upon my soul,

Consume my humble offering,

   And cleanse and make me whole!

I'm thine, O blessed Jesus,

   Washed by thy precious blood,

Now seal me by thy Spirit

   A sacrifice to God.

Herbert Booth would gain inspiration from James, penning the Salvationist lyric, "My mind upon thee, Lord, is stayed, My all upon thy altar laid, O hear my prayer! And since, in singleness of aim, I part with all, thy power to gain, O God, draw near!" (SASB 513) Again, Herbert Booth writes, "Upon the altar here I lay my treasure down; I only want to have thee near, King of my heart to crown. The fire doth surely burn My every selfish claim; And while from them to thee I turn, I trust in thy great name." (SASB 415)

Therefore, I believe there is ample evidence that the Holiness Table was birthed from the Palmer vision of the Holiness Altar.

BRENGLE AND THE MOVE AWAY FROM ALTAR THEOLOGY & THE GROWING OBSCURITY OF THE IDENTITY, ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE HOLINESS TABLE

Ironically, it was the writings of Samuel Logan Brengle that steered the Army away from Phoebe Palmer's influence. David Rightmire reflects on this in his book, Sanctified Sanity (2003):

"The dynamic balance between the immediacy of expectation and the waiting upon God for the assurance of sanctification, as found in Brengle's holiness theology, is not dealt with in early Salvation Army holiness teaching. Although not systematic, the holiness theology of the Army was dominated by members of the Booth family and George S Railton in the first three decades of the movement's existence. The immediacy of the experience of entire sanctification, appropriated by simple faith, was the predominant teaching. Although Brengle would concur with the receiving of the second blessing by faith alone, he believed that the witness of the Spirit was essential for one to know that the blessing had been given. His writings, especially Helps to Holiness and Heart-Talks on Holiness, both written prior to the turn of the century, were more 'Wesleyan' in that they emphasize the need to wait on the Lord for His witness and assurance.

Thus, it was Brengle's influence that directed The Salvation Army away from the emphases of Phoebe Palmer, and the misuse of her altar theology in popular piety, to a more orthodox Wesleyan expression." (p.155)

Rightmire also notes that Brengle did influence the 1925 O&R for Officers, but the Holiness Table took on more of a Wesleyan significance - meaning that the Palmerian Holiness Table in the architecture of a Corps took on new meaning and a new (and possibly lower) value...

During the early 20th century, there was an explosion of growth of Pentecostalism in Scandinavia and The Salvation Army was influenced by this. Wesleyan-Holiness scholar, Donald Dayton argues that Pentecostalism grew out of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement and adopted many of its' theological and methodological principles. One key component was re-appropriating Palmer and New Measures Revivalist's Altar Theology and the 'Baptism of Fire.' These influences seemed to have shaped Scandinavian (and specifically Swedish) Salvationists.

Apparently (I still need to verify this), Brengle went to Scandinavia to help them sort through these influences and sought to bring the Scandinavian Salvation Army more in line with Wesleyan (and less Pamerian) beliefs and practices. The strong influence of Brengle during these critical years might have had a dramatic effect on the Scandinavian architecture of the Corps. And, while this is conjecture on my part, I wonder whether the reason why Corps in Scandinavia do not have Holiness Tables beckons back to this early 20th century influence?

In America, one would think that Brengle's influence would mean less of an influence from Palmer, but, as Young Sung Kim has pointed out, Brengle did read Palmer, and the broader American Wesleyan-Holiness culture was more attuned to Palmerian Holiness. This might explain the difference between these expressions.

CONCLUSION

General Paul Rader is quoted by Nigel Bovey in The Mercy Seat Revisited (2010) as saying, "The presence of the Holiness Table is a constant reminder of the central importance of holiness of heart in the life of our Movement - a reminder that we are and must be a holiness movement. Ours is a gospel of blood and fire!" (p.90)

I believe that it is worth us revisiting the origins, purpose, function and architecture of the Holiness Table. Like the Mercy Seat - that can metamorphosized from a drum into a sacred space, Bovey illustrates how in the past even a Billiards Table has been converted into a Holiness Table in Army history. It is less about how the actual object looks that the meaning, centrality and value we place on the theology, experience, methodology and architecture.

I pray that we as a movement would return once again to building Altars of Holiness in our Corps. May the words of Francis Bottome ring true:

So with banners unfurled to the breeze,

   Our motto shall holiness be,

Till the crown from his hand we shall seize

   And the King in his glory we shall see. (SASB 808)

REFERENCES

Balmer, Randall, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism. Louiseville: Westminster Knox Press, 2003.

Bovey, Nigel. The Mercy Seat Revisited. London: United Kingdom Territory, 2010

Carwardine, Richard. Transatlantic Revivalism: Popular Evangelicalism in Britain and America, 1790-1865. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 1978.

Jones, Charles Edwin. 'The Posthumous Pilgrimage of Phoebe Palmer.' Methodist History, 35:4. July, 1997. http://archives.gcah.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10516/6131/MH-1997-July-Jones.pdf?sequence=1 (Downloaded: November, 2014)

Jones, Charles Edwin. 'The Inverted Shadow of Phoebe Palmer' Wesleyan Theological Journal, 31:2, Fall, 1996. http://wesley.nnu.edu/fileadmin/imported_site/wesleyjournal/1996-wtj-31-2.pdf (Downloaded: November, 2014)

Kim. Young Sung. Brengle and Palmer. http://armyonitsknees.org/?p=1377 (Downloaded: November, 2014)

Larsson, John. Spiritual Breakthrough: The Holy Spirit and Ourselves. London: International Headquarters, 1983.

Palmer, Phoebe. The Way of Holiness, with Notes by the Way. NY: G. Lane & C.B. Tippett, 1845.

Rightmire, David. Sanctified Sanity: The Life and Teaching of Samuel Logan Brengle. Alexandria, VA: Crest Books, 2003.

Salvation Army Song Book. Verona, NJ: National Headquarters, 1987.

Sandall, Robert. The History of The Salvation Army, Volume Two, 1878-1886. New York: The Salvation Army, 1950.

White, Charles Edward. The Beauty of Holiness: Phoebe Palmer as Theologian, Revivalist, Feminist and Humanitarian. Grand Rapids, MI: Francis Asbury Press, 1986.